Sayonara
by Forgotten Muse
Summary: ARCHIVED


Sayonara…  
  
By. T. 'RockChick' Evans  
  
Author's note.  
  
This is a short slice of STC weirdness about Pyjamas' past, and why no one can tell what species she is. A sort of A.U of my SA2 adaptation, I suppose. Just a funny idea I had… well, actually the credit goes to Mark Teo for giving me the idea in the first place. It came from a joke about how the dialogue timing was off in SA2, so Robotnik looked like he was psychic… and I said maybe it was something to do with Pyjamas. Moments later, I had a whole fanfic concept on my hands, begging to be put down in writing…  
  
I have no idea how old Pyjamas is really supposed to be, by the way… as I said, this is an A.U…  
  
Warning: Weird flashback scenes alert!!  
  
* * * *  
  
Darkness…  
  
Nothingness. Black as far as her eyes could see. Nothing.  
  
No… not quite nothing… there were lights in the dark. Dim lights… stars?  
  
Yes, they were stars. And a big, curving something. Too dark to see.  
  
Suddenly, light. A huge ball of light, appearing from the edge of the dark sphere.  
  
Sunrise!  
  
It was clearer now… the planet, in space. The sun. Stars.  
  
She was somewhere above the planet… which planet?  
  
Mobius. Of course.  
  
Then, right on cue, the voice came.  
  
She didn't know whose voice it was, but it was one she knew well… or had known. He called her name over and over, the smooth, dark voice maddeningly familiar. Yet she couldn't place it.  
  
She tried to see who owned the voice- he was there, beside her- but all she could see was darkness where he should have been.  
  
Then- pain! Searing pain, in her side… he was there, trying to reach her…  
  
And still he called her name… she couldn't make it out, but she somehow knew it was her name.  
  
Or had been.  
  
What was it?  
  
What was her name?  
  
Who was she?  
  
* * * *  
  
The white- haired Mobian gasped, abruptly coming back to her senses.  
  
"Pyjamas. My name is Pyjamas…" she told herself furiously, shaking her head.  
  
Stupid visions.  
  
And what's more, the psychic thought, this one was a recurring vision. She had been having it now and again for as long as she could remember- which amounted to over fifty years now. She was actually somewhere in her sixties, but could recall little of her childhood.  
  
It was always the same… space, the planet below, the strange voice. And pain.  
  
Pyjamas' hand went to her side. Through the baggy clothing that gave her her name, she could feel the old scar…  
  
It was a small scar, as if from a bullet. She couldn't remember how she had got it, but it had something to do with that vision…  
  
That was the strangest thing. Mostly, her visions were of the future; this one seemed to be of the past. A repressed memory, perhaps?  
  
The old woman sighed, and ran a hand through the wild hair that covered her eyes. It would have been a simple enough matter to restore someone else's blocked memories- she had done it before, to Super Sonic- but she couldn't perform a mind link on herself.  
  
And she had no idea why the vision had been repeating so often over the past few days. Ever since Robotnik had blown up the moon, in fact. It was as if the catastrophe had been some kind of trigger…  
  
Stress, perhaps? No, Mobius was safe now. The Freedom Fighters had seen to that. If it was just stress, why did she keep having these flashes? Shouldn't they have stopped, now that the danger was over?  
  
Pyjamas felt like something was nagging at her. There was something important that she needed to remember… why wouldn't it come to the surface?  
  
Why did she have this strange feeling of dread in her heart?  
  
Maybe something was going to happen. Was this another premonition?  
  
Or had something already happened?  
  
She sat down on the couch, grabbed the remote control and flicked the TV on to the news. Surprised, she turned the volume up… she hadn't expected to see a familiar face.  
  
The screen showed the Emerald Hill Zone; and being interviewed by a reporter was a blue hedgehog with striking emerald-green eyes.  
  
Sonic the hedgehog stared directly into the camera, and Pyjamas noticed a strange quality in those eyes- a melancholy that was rarely seen there. He was fidgeting, as usual- absently running gloved fingers over a bracelet on his left wrist.  
  
"Mr. Hedgehog, is it true that the threat from ARK is finally over?" the unseen journalist asked.  
  
"Yeah, it's true," Sonic nodded impatiently. "Look, I haven't got all day- -"  
  
He seemed oddly evasive, Pyjamas noticed…. Yes, Sonic hated to wait around. But turning down a chance to bask in his own glory…? Not like him at all. She frowned.  
  
"If you could just spare a moment--" the reporter said quickly, obviously surprised. "-- I think the public deserves to know exactly what happened up there."  
  
Sonic sighed.  
  
"Yes, they do…" he agreed thoughtfully. "They deserve to know the truth." Then he cleared his throat, seeming to gather himself.  
  
"I suppose you all want to hear how the hero of Mobius saved the day once again," he said to the camera. The hedgehog's voice was heavy with sarcasm; not unusual for him- but strangely uncharacteristic in this context… "I wish that was true, but it isn't. Sure, I helped; but I can't take the credit this time. The reason I'm still here- the reason we're all still here- is because one hedgehog sacrificed his life. He promised to protect this planet… and he died doing it…"  
  
Sonic looked down at the bracelet he wore; red, black and gold. "…Shadow…" he murmured, almost reverently.  
  
Pyjamas made a small, choking sound… the TV went blank, just as a flash frame of memory slammed into her head…  
  
* * * *  
  
…Dark… pain, in her side. Voices, far away. She tried to open her eyes, or at least say something; but she was too weak… couldn't move…  
  
But it didn't matter. He was safe, that was the important thing…  
  
"Will she be all right?" a concerned voice asked.  
  
"I… I don't know…" Someone else said hesitantly. "She's lost so much blood- it's a miracle the shot didn't damage any organs. The soldiers must've left her for dead…"  
  
"What about …you know, him? Did he…?" the first voice chimed in.  
  
"Don't worry. She got him out. But I don't know about the professor--"  
  
Suddenly, a noise! Footsteps, lots of them--  
  
"They're coming back!" The second voice panicked. "They'll find us. We have to hide!"  
  
"We can't move her, not in her condition- she might die--"  
  
"We don't have a choice! C'mon!"  
  
…She felt herself lifted up… pain… then nothing…  
  
* * * *  
  
Later--  
  
"Well?"  
  
The voices were back.  
  
"I've done all I can… I think she'll make it, but we have to get her out of here."  
  
"And take her where? Mobius? What if she's recognised?" The voice-- the first one who had spoken- sounded disapproving.  
  
"Do you believe I haven't thought of that?"  
  
The two unknown people sounded panicky, on edge. She could hear them fidgeting; and further away, something else. A siren, it sounded like. Endlessly droning on and on… "Look around you. We have all the equipment we need right here, we can make sure no- one ever finds her… she'd look just like any other Mobian." The voice had some implication that she couldn't understand. But the other voice did.  
  
"You're going to, what? Tinker with her genes?! That's crazy… we're just research scientists, we can't --"  
  
"Would you rather leave her here to die?!" snapped the second voice.  
  
"No… but even if it did work, what if she blew her cover?"  
  
"It's easy enough to erase a person's memory."  
  
"You're a neurosurgeon now?!" Sarcasm. "You'd botch it, and you know it. Messing around with her mind- do you have any idea what that might do to her?"  
  
"It's the only chance she has. Now are you going to help me, or not?!"  
  
--Then suddenly she was somewhere else… There was something emerging from the blackness; the stars, the sunrise that she knew so well. Clearer now, incredibly beautiful and familiar. Pyjamas gazed at the view, a strange feeling of peace flowing through her. The sunlight reflected from her hair; it was longer than before, and golden rather than the pure white it had become.  
  
She turned her eyes to the being standing next to her. He met her gaze. His eyes, as always, calm yet somehow sad.  
  
He was the one who had been haunting her for all these years. The owner of the voice that called her name had finally emerged from the darkness…  
  
And now she knew what that name was. She could recall everything now, a decade and a half of missing life sliding effortlessly back into place.  
  
"You remembered…" she breathed.  
  
"I kept my promise," he said quietly, now staring at the peaceful planet below. "This is what you wanted, right?"  
  
She felt a surge of emotion.  
  
"I…I never wanted you to die!" She cried, her voice now that of a young girl.  
  
He looked away from the view. Their eyes locked for a moment, and she saw a rare smile on his face; a sad one perhaps, but still a smile.  
  
Then there was darkness again; for a moment she could still see his eyes, glowing red- and then even that was gone.  
  
"Who said anything about dying?" came a distant reply…  
  
* * * *  
  
She awoke, feeling tears on her cheeks. She made her way to the window and looked out at the night sky.  
  
Her fringe hung over her face. She brushed it away; revealing eyes faded a little with age, but still sky blue. Apart from her shiny black nose, she could almost have been human…  
  
"Sayonara, Shadow the hedgehog…" Maria whispered.  
  
  
  
~ The End ~  
  
  
  
RockChick: Weird huh? Yeah, I know I left it open for Shadow to be alive… I wasn't going to, but I just couldn't resist.  
  
And, um… please don't flame me… this was just an experiment, something to make you think. It's AU, okay? That's alternate universe, meaning I can get away with this kind of thing.  
  
And, yes. This is my first attempt at a Pyjamas fic (if you don't count fan comics). Obvious isn't it?  
  
Shadow: O.O (speechless)  
  
Sonic: Great, just what we need. Another Shadfic.  
  
RockChick: No, it's a Pyjamas-fic actually…  
  
Shadow: O.O (still speechless)  
  
Sonic: Or a Maria fic.  
  
RockChick: Yeah… heh…  
  
Shadow: O.O  
  
Sonic: What's wrong with him?  
  
RockChick: Dunno.  
  
Shadow: O.O  
  
Sonic: Shadow?  
  
Shadow: O.O  
  
Sonic: Shadow! Speak to me! Say something, anything…  
  
Shadow: …Maria?  
  
Sonic: …Anything except that…  
  
Shadow: O.O  
  
Sonic: Uh, Rock? I think your fic melted Shadow's brain.  
  
RockChick: Oopsie.  
  
Shadow: O.O (Falls over)  
  
  
  
~ The Real End ~ 


End file.
